Ask HN: anybody bought droid? what has been your experience? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: anybody bought droid? what has been your experience?

13 pointsvijayr21 comments

Anybody bought droid? how is it compared to iPhone?

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Picked one up yesterday.

Has a nice heft to it, it's very snappy, and the screen is _beautiful_.

The turn-by-turn works well, and the voice recognition is _phenomenal_.

Oh, and the camera sucks (in bright light it's not bad, but in low light, it's unusable).

Do you think the problems with the camera are with the hardware or the software? On a related note, is there an SDK?

The SDK is here: http://developer.android.com/sdk/index.html

Rumors are that it's software. Unconfirmed and I have no cite, but I've read already that some aspect of the autofocus has already been fixed, but hasn't yet been pushed out.

FWIW, I find the camera ok; I haven't had too much autofocus issues, and it's worked ok in low light for me. Not great, but I have a 'real' camera for 'real' photos. Phone shots are spur of the moment things for me.

I wonder how different the voice recognition in Android 2.0 is from 1.6. Voice search was really crappy in 1.5, and I'm continuously surprised that it's able to read my voice accurately in 1.6. I'm only ever muttering two or three words for voice search, though.

I looked at one today. My biggest concern is the 5GB transfer limit. Worse than that, it's not a limit! Each additional GB is $50. The sales guy at the Verizon store tried to tell me that the limit was for tethering only, but I don't think he was correct. Does any have a definitive answer?

wow, $50 per GB? That's ridiculous, if true.

Lots of people charge 10 cents per KB.

My understanding is the sales guy is correct. The place for a definitive answer would be the "My Verizon" section of the website.

When I click "My Services" and "My Plan" I have "Email And Web For Smartphone" which says unlimited when clicked on. Also, under "Overview" -> "Cell Usage" -> "Data" it says "Monthly access: unlimited." I think you're OK.

Am I the only one with a smartphone who comes nowhere near 5GB a month? According to the iPhone my usage since 5/5/09 is 3.4GB, and I'd consider myself a frequent data user.

I actually do wish that telecos would introduce metered plans, providing that current prices aren't used to set the lowest rate :)

I think it really is unlimited.

For my Droid, I have the "email and web for smartphone" plan ($30). I also have a separate wireless broadband card and plan ($60). When I look at my account on Verizon's web site, I see a data cap of "5GB" for my broadband card and a data cap of "unlimited" for my Droid.

Verizon stopped using the term "Unlimited" on any of their plans after they lost some lawsuits. Look closer at the small print and there is always a limit stated.

It appears that I was wrong, but not entirely wrong.

The "mobile broadband" plans charge $50 (or even $100)/gig overage. These are the plans required for tethering-like services.

"5 GB overage rate is $0.05/MB and 250 MB overage rate is $0.10/MB"

http://www.verizonwireless.com/b2c/mobilebroadband/?page=pla...

The "Voice and Email" plans seem to be the ones required for Droid:

http://www.verizonwireless.com/b2c/store/controller?item=pla...

"Anyone using more than 5 GB per line in a given month is presumed to be using the service in a manner prohibited above, and we reserve the right to immediately terminate the service of any such person without notice"

Ok, so there's no data overage charge, but Verizon has the right to suspend your account.

This is yet another example of how confusing terms prevent sales. Compare the complexity of Verizon's offerings to Twilio's pricing page:

http://www.twilio.com/pricing-signup

I'm not a Twilio customer, but I probably would be if I had a need. Perhaps Verizon believes that confusion allows for better price discrimination?

I haven't used the iPhone much so I can't give a good comparison to that. I came from a Treo, and have been a Palm user for about 10 years.

I knew when I bought the Droid that there would be things I'd be missing that I took for granted on Palm. I was right. There are configuration options that seem to be missing completely, like the ability to order contacts by last name. I was also surprised that using an unlock pattern disabled the mute toggle on the lock screen.

I also miss synchronization with my Mac. I think The Missing Sync should work on it soon, but the current prerelease does not.

I agree with ckinnan that the keypad is awkward, and unlike him I have small hands. I've been using the virtual keyboard and it's been working all right.

The email application does what I need it to, although you need to be able to connect to an smtp server to set it up. I use an ssh tunnel to my smtp server, so that was a problem for a bit; fortunately, ConnectBot let me set up an ssh tunnel very easily.

The browser has been fine for me; much better than the Palm's.

On the whole, I think it's going to be a good device. I'm looking forward to getting the SDK so I can scratch some of my itches.

Personally, camera isn't that much of an issue. My guess is that synchronization and configuration problems should be fixed, sooner or later.

Keyboard is definitely an prob, I like the physical keyboard.

I picked mine up Friday, and I have to say it is amazing. The physical keyboard takes a bit of getting used to (the trick is to use the flat part of the tip of your thumbs and to be confident). The navigation feature of Google maps is also very useful. When you get close to your destination, it automatically jumps into street view facing the side of the road corresponding to your destination address.

For another $3/mo, you get visual voicemail which is a nice first for Verizon. I've been using a Blackberry Pearl and iPod Touch for the past couple years as my mobile solution and was happy overall, but this is much better.

Sure, maybe the iPhone is a bit better due to its app selection, but that doesn't even come close to the benefits of Verizon's network in my situation.

Bottom line: if you're on Verizon and looking for a better phone, get it. If you're simply deciding between an iPhone and a Droid, the hardware/software of the two are close enough that you can look at other factors (like network coverage) to make your decision.

I checked it out today, I was disappointed with the keypad, which is important to me as I have big hands. The Droid keys don't have much separation and aren't raised like Blackberry's.

If you buy it online the $100 rebate is instant and you can score another $50 off if you are a new Verizon customer or if you're existing and are out of contract.

Take a look at this unless you already did:

http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=927927

Yes, I was very pleasantly surprised after all the nit-picky and sometimes outright wrong reviews I read (there's nothing wrong with the camera!). I'm very pleased with the Droid. Keep in mind however, I've been dealing with the Fuze (Touch Diamond - WinMo) on AT&T for the last year, so I haven't really had any smartphone service at all.....

I felt the same way with my Fuze, but then I upgraded it to Win Mobile 6.5 using XDA's EnergyROM and I must say, it's a completely different experience. My Fuze actually functions as a decent smartphone now. Apps, interface, experience, etc.

I have never used an iPhone, but used them extensively. I got my Droid today, and I love it. I came from a long line of Blackberries. The Droid is SOO much faster, and the voice search/navigation is really amazing. The Market has some pretty cool apps on it too, not as many as the iPhone, but plenty.

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